The Isolated Maiden
by anime16
Summary: May Madness. Natsume Hyuuga was hurt after his recent break-up with his girlfriend so he went mountain-hiking to relax. An unexpected storm brought him closer to Mikan Sakura, a genius girl who locked herself in the luxurious estate on the mountains.
1. Chapter 1

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN GAKUEN ALICE.**

**The Isolated Maiden**

**...**

**...**

**...**

**Chapter One**

**...**

Natsume Hyuuga stomped as he walked in the hallways of his school. He was beyond pissed. He was downright, ridiculously mad. He clenched his fist as he remembered the scene he had just witnessed a while ago. He found out that his girlfriend of four months had been cheating on him. She had been going out with random guys behind his back, making out with them or sometimes doing beyond that.

He couldn't believe it. She was sweet to him, very sweet. But behind that mask was her manipulative part. She was just using his popularity, his looks and of course his money. Why not? He was the heir of the Hyuuga multi-corporation. Anything she'd ask, he could give. He was sick up to the pits of his stomach. After seriously loving a girl, she just threw him away like garbage.

"Natsume-kun!" Rika Katsunogi, his girlfriend called out to him. He ignored her, walking faster towards the front fate. "I'm sorry Natsume-kun." She was now crying. "I will not do that again. Please don't break up with me." She managed to outrun him and hugged him from behind.

"Let go of me." He hissed. But the she paid no heed and hugged him tighter. He forcefully let himself out of her hugged and turned around, glaring murderously at her. "Don't come near me again or you're seriously going to regret it." He raised his hand to touch her cheek. "You might not recognize your face once I'm through with you." He let go of her cheek and turned around.

"That's cruel!" she hollered. "Threatening me like that." Tears didn't stop from flowing down her cheeks. "That's exactly why I cheated on you Natsume. You're so cruel. You're possessive, overprotective, cunning, arrogant..."

"Stop!" He raised his voice. He steered his body, face contorted with pain. "I seriously loved you. I'm possessive because I treasure you very much. I'm like this because I like you a lot!" He grabbed her arm and pulled her towards him. He hugged her tight and said, "But you destroyed my trust and our relationship. I'm sorry. I'm breaking up with you."

He let her go and walked away.

She was left all alone, crying her eyes out that he let go of a man who loved her so much.

**...**

"Are you sure you don't need Ruka to go with you Natsume?" Kaoru Hyuuga asked. "The mountains are dangerous. You needed at least one companion with you."

"I'm going to be alright mom. I'm not a child," Natsume retorted. "And besides I needed some time alone." He sighed while playing with the uneaten steak in his plate. He was a little down after his breakup with his girlfriend so he decided to do some mountain hiking over the weekends.

And weekends starts tomorrow.

And he decided to go alone, without Ruka, without his father, without any of his friends, just him.

Kaoru stood up from her seat and offered her son a hug. She kissed his forehead and said, "I'm still worried about your wellbeing. I'm your mother after all. But I know you needed this. Just promise me when you get back, you're going to set your life on track again and love once more."

"You're so cheesy Mom." Natsume rolled his eyes. He propped up his head on his palm and heaved a long sigh. "I promised to be alright but I'm not promising to find another love soon. Women are so much trouble. They're users."

"Not all are like that Natsume," Kaoru patted his head. "Someday, you're going to find a woman who would care for you not because your rich, who would think of you every time not because your popular, and who would love you because you're you."

Natsume looked at his mom and smiled a bit, just a little bit, but in someone's point of view, he might be growling. He crossed his arms around his chest and stared at his mother suspiciously, "Mom, you're not watching sappy, romantic movies again, are you?"

Kaoru just grinned and said, "Aw. You got me."

**...**

It was a sunny Saturday morning. After he said his farewells to his loved ones, Natsume packed his bag and went to the mountains. The early hours of his trekking had been smooth, until it rained. There had been substantial downpour for minutes, then it turn to hours, and after that, it stopped momentarily. The land was glistening with the rain water. The trees on the way were green and alive with birds.

And that's when Natsume had found out that he couldn't tell which direction he was heading anymore. He missed the nature's show as he focused on putting himself back on the track. Suddenly, a deer shot out of the bush, bounding inches in front of him. Reflexively, he stopped and jerked backwards, falling in his butt. He groaned and cursed under his breath. He stood up and continued walking.

He sauntered forward, promptly stepped ankle-deep in the mud. He scowled as he lifted his foot and looked at the now-unrecognizable handmade shoe. Shaking what could be shaken off, he started walking again.

Dusk came and he was still strolling aimlessly in the mountains. As comfortable his shoes were, they were not really made for rocks and roots in his path. His jacket that was once creaseless, was now dotted with water spots. His shirt was wilted from the heat and moisture of the foliage. He already consumed his food and drank his water, so now he was hungry, and already positive he had a blister on his wet foot.

The sudden clearing of the forest lining the trees almost passed unnoticed. Then he saw a house. He stopped, stunned at the beauty of the gray walls rising out of the greenery. The glossy lines were watery, designed to move with the land, not against it. The glass was tinted. The only raucous note was the high wall at the base. The iron gates were works of art, but he didn't appreciate it since he was so hungry and tired. Now he only hoped that the people inside the house would be kind enough to let him in and instruct him how to get down from the mountains.

**...**

"Alright, Lunar, where did I leave my glasses now?" Mikan Sakura asked. She was standing in the middle of an empty hall, looking around vaguely as she spoke in silence. She was a slender woman with brunette hair. Her eyes were hazel and her skin was slightly pale.

"In the living room, on the table, five inches from the center on the southeast corner," Lunar's voice was a duplicate of her husky, sexy voice and softly accented. It was a voice to calm a baby to sleep or a man to forget all his reticence. Lunar was Mikan's invention, her personal technology, computer and her only companion on the luxuriant estate on the mountains.

Mikan wandered down the hall, ignoring the lustrous lines of the home she constructed with the help of Lunar three years ago. Every angle and curve was particularly drawn to support the rare idea of a totally computerized environment, a technology that has no equal in the country. Her security-enclosed estate was contributed by her genius, but she didn't quite appreciate it because it was made for her convenience. Her needs were all taken care by Lunar.

A bell sounded, signalling the arrival of a mail. She ignored it, poking her glasses on the end of her nose. "Lunar, delete the last step of the input data operation," she commanded. She walked quickly to the back of the house where the winding stairs was located. She went on the third floor that was only one huge room.

"Deletion complete," Lunar responded.

"Screen up to the third input."

"Screen up."

Mikan scanned the figures rolling across the blue display. The codes, punctuations, and numbers were foreign to most but to her it was crystal clear. "There, line thirty-five, stop scroll."

Lunar complied. "Stopped."

Mikan sat down, fingers flying on the keys and corrected the small error. She smiled gently. "I think we've got it Lunar." She was delighted that the problem had begun to unravel. The hours winged by as she worked and the skies darkened, signalling the end of the day.

The bell sounded for dinner and she said absently, "Keep the dinner warm for me Lunar. Just two more minutes."

"No, physical needs are a lot more important."

She scowled. "You are the computer and I give the orders here."

"You programmed me to remind you to eat."

Mikan swore, punching out some of the keys angrily. Knowing herself well, she even programmed Lunar to answer any argument she would make.

"I'm immune to human anger."

"I know, you idiotic computer freak. I wrote that in your program too."

"I'm not an idiotic computer freak. I'm a –"

Mikan interrupted before she would get treated for some detailed expression about her computer. "I wish I never put all this verbal interfacing in your memory."

A moment of silence for a few minutes and Lunar queried, "Do you wish me off line the whole evening?"

Feeling guilty, Mikan shook her head, knowing that the security cameras would pick up the gesture and processed it to Lunar's mind. "Ignore me. Temper."

Suddenly an alien sound, the buzzer on the outside gate disturbed her. Mikan overrode Lunar's programmed response and pressed a button on a remote control beside her. The picture across the room slid on one side to reveal a small television screen. A handsome man was muddy, probably the first time in his life. He looked irritated and impatient. She touched the other button signalling Lunar to answer the call.

The man looked like he would blow out any time. So she wasn't surprised when he punched the buzzer edgily.

"I assume someone in this place can hear me. I'm tired and hungry and I'm not in the mood to be interrogated. I know I might be unwelcome, but it's the least of my problems right now. I'm not going away so unless you want a corpse at your gates, you'd better let me in."

Mikan stared at the console, lips twitching in amusement.

"I guess we better let him in. I don't want to explain a body like this to the police," she said aloud to Lunar.

"You wish the gates open?"

"Yes please, Lunar. Have Lunar two bring the first aid kit to the study," she said as she watched the man limp up her drive. "Then draw out a bath for our visitor."

"Defaults given."

Mikan moved down the stairs to the hall as Lunar three opened the door. "Someone in town should warn you about the typhoon," she told him blandly.

He stopped in his tracks, looking up, following the voice of the woman standing at the foot of the stairs. "I don't know," he said absentmindedly. He couldn't believe his eyes. The woman in front of him was so beautiful. She was just wearing a big, white t-shirt and shorts and she would give a top model tough competition.

Desire seeped into his soul. The reaction was so swift. He didn't even have time to be irritated by his stupid response. The remorse and pain he got from his ex-girlfriend were slowly forgotten and faded. He could only stand and gaze his fill of the woman watching him with cold, dispassionate eyes.

**...**

**Author's Notes: **Another inspiration from a book I've read. This story would probably have ten chapters or so. Thanks for reading the story. Please leave a review and tell me what you think. _Crazy Love Affair _is nearing its end. Continue your support for it. See you on my other stories.


	2. Chapter 2

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN GAKUEN ALICE.**

**The Isolated Maiden**

**...**

**...**

**...**

**Chapter Two**

**...**

Mikan came forward, smiling as Natsume continued to stare. Even up close, she was beautiful, he decided. Her voice was husky, conjuring up images best left in the darkness and privacy of the night. He closed his eyes, annoyed that he was thinking about something like that. He cracked one eye open and saw her face dangerously close to him. He inched back, wincing as he stepped on his blistered foot.

"What do you want?" He asked. "Why are you nearing your face to mine?" He pursed his lips, trying to ignore the painful throbbing of his injured foot.

She nodded before turning to her left. "You're limping. Let's go in here and I'll have a look at your foot."

"It's all right." The last thing he wanted to discuss was his various aches and pains.

She gave him a straightforward look. "I doubt it. Forget the men-don't-cry routine and let me look. You're a good thirty miles from a hospital even at the best of times and conditions. Do you want another trip over that road in the near future?"

"No." He followed, defeated be her logic.

If the rest of the house was unusual, the study was no less so. There were books, floor-to-twelve-foot-ceiling shelves of them. Old, new, large, small, and judging from the titles, everything from poetry to science was represented. "You've read all of these?"

"At one time or another." She motioned him to a chair. "I started reading at three – nursery rhymes. I still have the book. It's in the case over there." She pointed to a glass display unit as she took the first-aid kit from one of the messenger robots.

His brows raised in surprise. "What was that?" He gestured to the messenger robot that stationed itself behind her, waiting for her orders. "And not only that, where is your family? I didn't see any of them at the door."

She stiffened and looked down before answering, "I don't have a family. There is only one person in this estate and that is me."

He bit his lower lip, frowning. He just opened a sensitive topic to her and he was a little bit uncomfortable. Instead of apologizing, he asked, "How many of these mobile units you have here?"

"Four." She sat down on the stool in front of him. Her face brightened up a bit on the mention of her inventions. She smiled at him and said, "Take off your shoe."

He complied, his gaze divided between her face and the silent, motionless hi-tech marvel behind her. The moment he was away from her, he knew he would regret his inability to take charge of the encounter. "Do they speak?"

"Yes, but on a limited basis. Lunar one has the most memory input and therefore the larger vocabulary." Mikan studied on his bare foot. "You really did a number on this, young man."

"My name is Natsume Hyuuga." He told her and added, "And I think we're in the same age. So don't talk like your old."

"The blister was broken and bleeding," she murmured, ignoring his earlier remarks. She knew from experience that it was painful. She looked up at him, their faces only inches apart. For the first time, she did more than see him as a threat, intent on prying her out of her comfortable world. This was an attractive male, clean of form, sleek, muscled. The intensity in his eyes spoke of intelligence and the authoritative edge in his voice told of command. Arrogance. Something she understood and shared.

He reached out, trailing a finger down the smooth curve of her cheek.

She was surprised at his boldness to react immediately. By the time she was ready to pull away, the caress was over. But the warmth still lingered, gently, teasingly, just out of range of her ability to block out the sensation. She looked into his eyes, assessing his mood and her own emotions. One touch should not have made such an impact, she assured herself.

He watched as the light of the study halo her hair as she bent over his foot. Something of her pose awoke a strange emptiness. Annoyed, he fought the feeling. Being curious and interested wasn't the same as needing a woman. Need was a crippling device in any relationship. "Are you going to stare at that blister all night?" he asked, his voice taking on an edge that had been missing a second before.

She looked up. "I am not."She poured peroxide on a gauze pad and started cleansing his wound. Any softer feelings she might have were gone. "I don't have time to waste anyway," she added, ignoring his grunt of discomfort.

"Go easy. That isn't a slab of meat down there." He bent slightly, trying to see what she was doing to him.

She raised her head abruptly, her forehead connecting with his chin. The impact set her hard on her bottom on the floor.

He reeled back with a pungent oath. "Ouch! Woman, what are you trying to do, kill me?" He stroked his jaw, feeling a lump already forming.

She glared at him as she brushed the hair out of her face. "You idiot," she shot back, blinking back tears of pain. "Of all the dumb stunts. I don't have time for a headache tonight." She scrambled on her feet, groaning as the motion sent pain into the abused area. "Lunar, I need aspirin – immediately. And water for two."

The mobile unit behind her slid out of the room as the voice of Lunar One acknowledge the instruction. His hand stopped rubbing his sore jaw, his expression going from painful to intense interest.

"Do you wish a medical scan?" Lunar One asked.

"Yes. Two human scan. Restrict search to the head and neck area."

"It can do that?"

She glanced at him, smirking. "Of course. As I mention before, the house isn't close to town. Lunar is programmed to monitor all vital signs and to report any problems. Should I be injured, Lunar will even contact the local authorities on my behalf."

"Amazing." He murmured as Lunar Two returned with the requested items on tray.

"Scan complete. Mild contusion in both male and female subject. Do you wish exact location?"

"Unnecessary."

"I think we know," He added dryly. "I hope I get one of those."

She handed him a glass of water and the bottle of aspirin. "Are you always this clumsy?" she questioned.

He downed the medicine, then the water, just managing not to choke. "I am not clumsy."

"You give a good impression of it."

"Only since I met you," he returned, scowling. He got to his feet, keeping the weight off his injured foot.

She looked at him up and down.

His scowl deepened. "Anybody ever tell you that you're one uncomfortable woman to be around?"

"Occasionally," she admitted with a shrug. "I suppose you better stay tonight. You're not in such a bad shape that you need to go down the mountain right now."

He limped toward her.

"Don't get any ideas that I want you here. Once the rain stops and the mountain clear, you're out of my property."

"Actually, that possibility hadn't crossed my mind. All I was going to say was, thank you. I know I must be breaking into your night, not to mention your home."

"I don't believe you," she said.

"I can't help that."

Turning, she headed for the door. "Lunar Two will show you the guest wing, and if you need anything else, just tell her. Lunar, this is Natsume Hyuuga. You may obey his domestic instructions or answer his questions. Deny access to all areas of computer function and internal house programming. Reheat dinner. Call me and Hyuuga-san if it's finished." She turned to Natsume. "Hyuuga-san, a bath is already drawn. Give Lunar Two your clothes and they'll be washed. I can't offer you a change."

"I have a set of clothes in my bag but they're all wet too."

"Give them to Lunar Two and have them wash too. You might try a sheet until they're returned to you." Without waiting for his response, she left the room.

Alone, he shook his head. The woman had no equal that he knew of. And now he looked at it, she had yet to tell him her name.

"Is she always like this?" Not expecting to answer, he jerked when Lunar's voice responded.

"Do not understand the question. Repeat, please."

"I don't understand it either," he muttered, walking toward the door.

"That is not a question."

"I know. It wasn't meant to be one." He raked his fingers through his hair. Now that he wasn't mesmerized by her beauty, he could feel the pain from his blistered foot. He was still tired, hungry, damp and disgusted. "I do not talk to computers."

"Inaccurate input."

"I don't believe this. I'm having an argument with a damn machine." He reached the door, determined to say nothing else that the computer could respong to.

"I am not a damn machine," Lunar responded finally. "I am specifically –"

"A pain in the...rear," He interrupted as, forgetting his injury, he stomped into the hall. The mobile followed. He stopped, not knowing where to go. Glaring at two, he waited. The unit waited. "Damn. Show me the guest wing," he directed, realizing that the machine could easily outwait him. The knowledge did nothing for his temper.

**...**

Mikan sat down at the computer screen and keyed the command that muted Lunar's internal audio tracking. She had no desire to hear Natsume's voice. She wanted to forget the man was in her home. Her fingers poised above the keyboard, she tried to banish his image from her mind so that she could work. Seconds turned into minutes and still his memory lingered.

Mumbling, she gave up the mental struggle and began checking her data input. Slowly, logic and concentration needed to do her job took over, crowding Natsume out. Sighing, without realizing it, her body relaxed, her expression smoothing from troubled to absorbed. Her fingers slipped over the keyboard as she opened the new system and tried her design as though she were the novice user. Minutes sped by as she worked. When the bell sounded again for dinner she wanted to ignore it, but Lunar was resolute.

"I am definitely changing you programming," she vowed as she went downstairs. The sound of another human visitor coming from the dining room reminded her of her visitor. She scowled. For a while she had forgotten that her territory had been invaded.

**...**

Natsume hitched up the sheet, extremely tired of wandering the halls in nothing but a thin covering. Not only was his safety question as the slithery material wouldn't stay put, but it was unquestionably drifty.

"I want my clothes," he glared at Lunar Two. "I am not walking around in this sheet much longer."

"Clothing is not dry."

"I will wear them damp."

"Humans are susceptible to colds. Damp clothes are not meant to be worn. Therefore human may not wear damp clothes.

Natsume muttered a nasty comment. "I am going to kill that woman."

Suddenly the room was alive with an unearthly shriek. Natsume jerked around. Mikan was leaning against the door laughing so hard that tears were pouring down her face.

"What the –? Don't just stand there. Do something," he shouted over the din.

"Tell Lunar you didn't mean to kill in the literal sense."

"What?" He cupped his hands to his ears, forgetting the silky sheet that seemed determined to obey laws of gravity. The fabric dropped in a whisper of sound no one heard.

"Lunar, stop. Inaccurate input. Figure of speech."

The sudden silence was complete. She stared at him, ears turning pink in the process. He was naked, highlighted by the artificial light in the room. She always believed that men lacked in the beauty department but Natsume gave lie to that thought. For the first time in a long while, she felt her heart skipped a beat. "You might want to cover up before you catch a cold," she managed, working at being as nonchalant as he seemed.

Natsume looked down. The fabric was puddle at his feet. Resignation at the situation and a kind of pride that she had obviously found his looks not displeasing, he bent and picked up the sheet. "You know, before I met you I considered myself sane, responsible and reasonably even-tempered, at least sometimes." He sighed. "So far I ruined my favourite shoes, been gifted a blister the size of a potato, talked to and argued with a machine as though it were human, and met you."

She leaned against the door, folding her arms over her chest while she listened to her recital.

"Whatever dignity I had, deserted me when I met you. Do you realize that you're the only woman besides my mother I haven't had the pleasure in sleeping with who has seen me in the buff?"

"A dubious honor, I'm sure," she murmured, smiling. Any man who could cope out with the oddity of her lifestyle and still compose to drop his pants, so to speak, and picked them up without a blink deserved her respect. She pushed away from the door, unfolded her arms and walked towards him.

He watched her warily. Since she had, as yet, done nothing remotely resembling the ordinary, he didn't look for it now. "I've had a rotten afternoon. If this is one of your stingers, could it at least wait until after dinner?"

"I've been terrible," she uttered softly. His surprise made her feel guilty. "One of the worst things about my life is that I live it surrounded by my creations. I am the controller. If something doesn't suit me here, I simply change it."

Her words stunned him. He searched her eyes, finding in them a gentleness that had been lacking before. Her moods were quicksilver – clear, bright and impossible to predict. He had never met a woman like her. In fact, he was beginning to doubt she had an equal. "And I am a threat?"

"Yes." She turned around. "Let's go. The meal will get cold."

He caught her wrist. "Your pulse is racing." He stroked the tender skin. He smiled, his eyes lightening with pleasure. He lifted her hand in his lips, lightly kissing her knuckles before turning her palm to his mouth. She inhaled sharply at the gesture and gentleness.

"Do you like that?" he smirked. Usually that question was a rhetorical one, but with her he didn't know what would please her.

"Yes," she whispered.

"Will Lunar blow a chip if I kiss you?"

"What?" Even as she spoke, his head was lowering to hers. Dazed, she lifted her lips, as curious about him as he seemed to be about her. They touched tentatively, each discovering rather than claiming. The kiss was soft and gentle. He decided to deepen it when his tongue traced the outline of her lips. She opened her mouth, allowing him to enter. He could feel her hesitant response. Puzzled, intrigued, he probed, searching for an answer to the mystery.

They broke apart, feeling the need of some air. She clutched his neck with her arms and put her head on the crook of his neck. He momentarily stiffened, as she blew cool pants in the skin of his neck. He sighed and draped his chin on the top of her head.

"I think I'm in trouble," he said roughly. "I almost wish you would slap my face."

She shook her head. "I don't feel like it right now."

"I _know_ I am in trouble."


End file.
